The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln, John Bernthal and Sarah Wayne Callies talk zombies, Frank Darabont and American accents!

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Are you ready for some zombies? This Sunday, AMC will premiere it’s new series, The Walking Dead. Directed by Frank Darabont and produced by Gale Anne Hurd, the show tells the story of life following a zombie apocalypse.

Yes, the show is about zombies but its also about the relationships these characters form between themselves. I’ve seen the first two episodes and the show and acting is great! I promise that you will love this show.

I talked with the stars, Andrew Lincoln, John Bernthal and Sarah Wayne Callies in a round-table interview at Comic-Con where we talked about the show, working with Frank Darabont, acting with zombies and more!

For the full interview, click onto the audio link above or download from iTunes.

How do you feel about the fan reaction?

Andrew: It was amazing. It is amazing just to be here.

Was that the first time you saw the footage?

Andrew: No, I don’t watch, but I heard it, it sounded amazing. (laughter) These people have lived with this novel for seven years and you just- as soon as you look at them you realize the loyalty and the affection and the passion for the subject matter. And obviously we want to serve that and be responsible to it and make sure that we give them what they want.

This is going to be based on the comic and that it will take its own direction on occasion. There’s probably certain sections of the comic you’ve read that are like, ‘Whoa is that where I’m going?’ Are you worried that it might go in a direction in the comic that you don’t think it should as a character?

John: Death sucks.

Exactly, I didn’t want to say.

John: You definitely don’t want to get killed.

I think that we all believe in this so much and we all love each other so much and again, that’s not bullshit. It’s the truth. I feel so blessed to be a part of this thing.  It’s such an honor and for me. Yeah, I know where potentially [my character's]  headed – which is really sad for me I don’t want it to happen – but I also believe in this so much, I want to serve it. And I just hope it’s, if and when it does happen, it’s earned. And I do it justice.

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Donnie Wahlberg on his new series, ‘Blue Bloods’, working with the cast and tweeting in front of Tom Selleck

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It’s been 10 years since Donnie Wahlberg won praise for his performance on Boomtown and since then, he’s portrayed characters on both sides of the law. In the new CBS series, Blue Bloods, he’s back playing good guy, ‘Detective Danny Reagan’.

The show revolves around a family of New York City cops that’s headed by Tom Selleck as the police commissioner. Donnie plays his son; Bridget Moynahan is his District Attorney daughter Erin,  and Will Estes (American Dreams) is Jamie, a Harvard Law grad who decides to become a beat cop.

I got a chance to talk to Donnie in a conference call where he talked about his character, his off-screen relationship with the cast and more.

For the full interview, click onto the audio link above or download from iTunes.

How does the cast interact with each other – do you find that you have taken on those familiar characteristics like your characters? Is Tom [Selleck] the ‘dad’ on set? Do you and Will [Estes] have a brotherly relationship?

Donnie Walhberg: Yeah, it’s ironic how things usually turn out at least when people do a good job of casting.  Bridget [Moynahan] and I have a very, very great relationship and it definitely – while in my opinion she’s one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met – it is a very, very trusting, brotherly-sisterly kind of relationship. We’re both single parents, we talk about all types of stuff off camera  and we help each other a lot as well off camera. I think it flows very naturally onscreen when we work together. Will – sometimes I look at Will and it’s like looking at myself 10 years ago on Boomtown. I see him wanting to explore certain elements of his character’s story the way I did on Boomtown. I remember walking around for the first 11 episodes saying, “When am I going to get to talk about my suicidal wife?” and carrying that with me into every scene that I did and I see Will doing that. And like an older brother, I’m able to identify it, see it, recognize it, and sometimes help and encourage it depending on what the situation calls for.

And of course with Tom he really is like…he sort of is like everyone’s dad. I’m sort of a nutty kid on set but Tom knows I’m professional and I come to play hard every day. Much like Frank knows that that’s what Danny is. Frank puts up with Danny sticking heads in the toilet the way Tom puts up with Donnie tweeting in between takes and letting fans know to watch the show and stuff.

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Masi Oka: Hawaii Five-0′s Newest Cast Member

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You know Masi Oka from his role as the time-traveling ‘Hiro’ on Heroes. Well, he’s back on prime time in the new CBS hit show, Hawaii Five-O. He plays a Jewish, piano prodigy medical examiner named Max Bergman. It’s all in a days work for the popular actor.

This was a conference call so most of the questions weren’t mine but he talks about coming into a show as a guest star, if he did any research for the part, how he got the role and a whole lot more!

For the full interview, click onto the audio link above or download from iTunes.

Did you go back and watch old episodes of Doc Bergman to get any idea of what Max would be like?

Masi: I actually didn’t. It’s kind of one of those things when we do a remake – ironically this was the same thing when I did Get Smart – the whole idea’s not to really look at the original too much cause there’s a reason for a remake. I trust the creators, and the writers and the staff to create that remake or that tone or whatever they want to do for the modernized version, and I feel it is for us actors not to really reenact what was portrayed but just give it our own flavor, just to give it a new slice. I think it’s that chemistry of us doing our new thing and then trusting the writers and the staff and the production team to maintain the Hawaii Five-O “brand”.

How much are we going to see of you and of Max over the course of the show? How many episodes are you doing?

Masi: So far I’ve done two right now, and I know they’re talking about writing me into a bunch more.

What’s it like going into a show as a guest star?

Masi: It’s fun…it’s a new environment. Fortunately, I know Daniel Day Kim from the Lost days and we’ve been chatting. It is kind of strange to go in as a guest where it’s not a family I was part of but everyone has been so welcoming and it feels like I’m already a part of the family. So, it’s a little bit different but at the same time it’s kind of an exciting. And new adventures are always exciting so…I’m happy to be a part of the CBS family.

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Edward Norton, Tim Blake Nelson on their film, “Leaves Of Grass”

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Edward Norton playing twins in a movie that’s directed by Tim Blake Nelson? How could that not be great?

And guess what? Leaves Of Grass is great! Edward Norton plays twins Brady and Bill. Brady is a small-time pot grower and Bill is an Ivy league professor. Tim Blake Nelson who also wrote the film plays Brady’s redneck friend Bolger.

I saw the premiere at SXSW and the movie is funny, violent and at times, you have no idea where the story is going to take you, which for me, makes the film.

This was another roundtable interview (my question is here) and the interview ran longer than most, so I’ve cut it down a bit. If you want the whole interview, you can listen/download the whole conversation above or click here for iTunes.

On a side note: I’ve been interviewing people for a while now and I have to say, Tim Blake Nelson is truly one of the nicest guys around. The day after this interview, I was in the hotel lobby when Tim and I saw each other. He said, “Hi” and we started to have this 5 minute long conversation. It wasn’t anything about his movie… just a normal conversation… about BBQ. You gotta love SXSW.

Tim, I was wondering as actor and as a filmmaker do you involve yourself with films that act as a corrective and not go straight towards the stereotypical easy laugh?

Tim Blake Nelson: Yeah, I certainly do.  I do grow tired of intelligence having such a limited manifestation in movies.  And so when I wrote this I knew immediately that the wisest and smartest characters, two characters in the movie in this movie would be the ones who either remained in Oklahoma or returned there.  So, the smartest guy in the movie is Brady.  I think that’s evident and it’s also stated by the mother.  And the wisest character is Keri Russell’s character, and she’s chosen to return and write in Oklahoma, and I think she gives the Bill character the wisdom that allows him to begin to move forward in his life as it’s collapsing around him.  So, in answer to your question, I was eager to debunk certain stereotypes about Southern characters in this movie.

This question is for both of you and it has to do with that obviously to believe in the duality of it you have to have this suspension of disbelief, and I’d like to hear from you how you achieved it through filmmaking and how you achieved it through your acting.

Tim: Yeah, suspension of disbelief in a story like this is pretty essential, although that said, I think you have to be responsible to your story as a storyteller.  To make it feasible enough, and I hope that this story is feasible enough.  There are details peppered throughout that I didn’t want to bang the audience over the head with it.  I mean, an obvious question would be well, hang on, wouldn’t folks know they were twins, but they didn’t grow up in Ida Belle, in the Ida Belle, Broken Bow area.  They grew up in another town, Hugo.  And Brady is moved to Ida Belle.  But these stories are all far-fetched, but the antecedent material for the movie, like in Menander and Plautus and Shakespeare, you know, it’s a retelling of a twins genre.  And the main character in the movie is a classicist, and so that’s all very intentional.  It’s meant to reflect on those earlier works.  The character, Bill, has done a translation of Plautus’ play The Menaechmi, which is a Roman twins play.  And so suspension of disbelief and that whole question is part of the fun of the movie.  Alright and now he’s going got say thanks for referencing Menander (laughter).

Edward Norton:  Well, no, actually I was going to say that any questions I had about whether a redneck from Oklahoma could actually go and become a Brown classical philosophy professor were ended when I met Tim because I think as you can see one conversation with Tim and you kind of realize, ‘Oh, Bill is a believable character.’

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Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel on ‘Childrens Hospital’ and Rob’s impending death

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Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer made up part of MTV’s, Human Giant. Now, they’re both working on Adult Swim’s, Childrens Hospital.

Rob plays ‘Dr. Owen Maestro’, a hot-shot surgeon who is never wrong… but is often right. Paul, who is also starring in FX’s show The League, was brought in as a writer also appears appear on the show.

These two are hilarious and it was great to see them riff off each other in person. I talked to them in a round-table interview at Comic-Con where they talked about the show, Rob’s impending death and a whole lot more.

For the full interview, click onto the audio link above or download from iTunes.

We’ve been asking a lot of people about the transition from the web series to the TV series. How much has the humor changed?

Paul: Well, it’s interesting because I wasn’t involved in the web series but I was a fan of the web series. And then Rob called me up to work on writing in the second season as well as being in it. And I think the cool thing about Adult Swim and the way the show is like, they say, we love the web shows, do more of that, push it even more. And now there’s 11 minutes. I feel like if you watched the web shows, they’re really funny, but they’re almost two scenes back to back, two really funny scenes. So, now when you watch the TV show you’re getting to see a full- almost like a compacted sitcom. You see a full half hour show, it’s fast and furious and really funny.

Rob walks up.

And it’s really great too because Rob… he’s going to pass away and this is his last show. This is his farewell round.

Rob: What did you just say? Whatever he just said is not accurate.

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Romy Rosemont on ‘Glee’, how that’s affected her career and more!

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Romy Rosemont is the definition of working actor. She’s got a resume a mile long and has been working actor for years.

Prior to last year, you may not have recognized her but she’s appeared in dozens of shows and films since 1990. She was even recurring on CSI.

Well, now I’m sure you’ll recognize her because she’s currently recurring on one of the hottest show’s on TV, Glee, where she play’s Finn’s mom.

This is a great interview from a working actors perspective. We talk about how she has maintained her career, agent hunting and yes, Glee.

For the full interview, click onto the audio link above or download from iTunes.

How did you get your start?

Romy Rosemont: Oh, my gosh. I mean something I always wanted to do which was act. But after I graduated Northwestern I just didn’t know where I fit in. So I worked at ICM and CAA for almost 2 years. And then it just kind of came time that I was like, ‘I got to do this’. And then I quit and made kind of a homemade audition tape that I had sent to someone who worked in an agency called Triad, which was an agency, a long, long time ago. And she hip pocketed me and kind of from there, I just started slowly getting jobs.

I got Taft-Hartley’d in a horror film called Bad Dreams. And then joined the union in one of those kind of movies that are foreign financed and cost like $1.50 to make that do really well in Europe. And that actually was directed by John Turteltaub, I think that was the very first thing he ever did.  And I knew the producer, he was a friend of my brother’s, and he hired me to do a little things. And then just slowly, I started to get work. I’ve always been a late bloomer, so it’s never been a big bang. It’s always been a nice steady trickle.

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Rob Corddry: “I’m like a Roman Caeser”

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I got a chance to talk to Rob Corddry at Comic-Con this year at a roundtable interview and while it was  brief (I think it lasted like 4 minutes!),  it was still very cool to talk to him.

I love his show Children’s Hospital on Adult Swim. He plays ‘Dr. Blake Downs’, the clown doctor who believes in the ‘healing power of laughter’ as opposed to medicine. And if you’ve seen the show, you know that belief always leads to pretty disastrous but funny results.

Rob spoke about the show, being the guy in charge and not kissing Megan Mullally.

For the full interview, click onto the audio link above or download from iTunes.

What’s it like being in charge, does it feel good?

Rob: It’s so good. So good. I just say ‘no’ arbitrarily. I’m like a roman Caesar. “Yes, No, give me some ham.” It’s fantastic.

With the kids in the background, have you guys got any bets on set who can be the worst in front of the kids? To see what they can get away with before the parent steps in?

Rob: No, oh my God no. Oh my God no. Most of the time, I talk a truck driver and I’ve got two young children of my own and I can’t believe they haven’t sworn yet. But no, God, we would feel terrible.

One day this girl was just talking about her dad and how kind of horrible he was like, ‘yeah my dad makes us do this.’ Painting the picture of like this awful father. Any parent that lets their children do something like that is just a bad parent. There’s no argument against that- that kids should be in any way affiliated with this business, especially the show.

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Rob McClure: “I didn’t start really working a lot until I stopped striving to be the actors I admired and started to just embrace me”

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If you’re anywhere near San Diego, I highly recommend going to see the new musical, Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin at the La Jolla Playhouse.

Written by Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (Hairspray, The Producers, Annie) with music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis, it follows Chaplin’s life from his early days in London, his rise to be the greatest film star in the world and his downfall from scandal.

The show is fantastic and one reasons for that is its star, Rob McClure. He plays Chaplin and from the moment he walks on stage to the minute the show is over, you will have witnessed something special. I seriously cannot say enough good things about his performance.

I talked to Rob about the show, his research, how he got his equity card and a whole lot more! (And be sure to check out his incredible advice to actors!)

For the full interview, click onto the audio link above or download from iTunes.

How did you get the part?

Rob: About 3 months ago my agent called and said they were doing a Charlie Chaplin musical. And believe it or not maybe about a year ago I mentioned to my wife, “You know, I would love to play Charlie Chaplin one day…” – and I started to think, “Maybe one day if I get the time I’ll write one.” Little did I know that Tom Meehan, like Tony Award winning Tom Meehan was already on it [LAUGHTER] and he and Chris Curtis had written it this amazing show.

So my agent called me and they scheduled an audition and I went in and I had about 3 callbacks. I was doing a show in Boston at the time so I was taking the train down every Monday on my day off to go to these callbacks. And the final callback was probably about 5 o’clock on a Monday and they said, “Well, what time do you need to get back to Boston the next day?” I said, “Well I should probably be on a train around noon” and they said, “Ok, well come back tomorrow at 10” – and I live in Philadelphia so I was going, “Okay! [LAUGHTER] This is going to be a little crazy” And then they said, “And have a minute long Chaplinesque thing ready.”

So I’m like, “Oh great, it’s 5 o’clock on Monday and by 10 o’clock tomorrow morning come up with a minute of…genius, essentially.” [LAUGHTER] So, I went home and was up till 3 o’clock in the morning with my wife trying to come up with something and finally we came up with something for Flight of the Bumblebee. I brought in the music for Flight of the Bumblebee and a fly swatter and it was basically me versus an invisible bee. [LAUGHTER] And that was sort of the final audition before they offered me the part.

But I felt a…I felt a strange connection with Chaplin for a long time. My great-aunt Marion always used to tell me growing up that I looked like Chaplin and she was sort of the only person around me that would reference him a lot. So she used to tell me growing up that I look a lot like him. So I’m in this audition process, I’ve gone to 2 callbacks, and my aunt Tressa – her daughter, my great-aunt Marion passed away maybe about a year ago – my aunt Tressa, her daughter calls me and says, “We were going through your aunt Marion’s storage stuff and she painted a 5 foot portrait of Charlie Chaplin – do you want it, cause I know she always used to tell you that you look like Charlie Chaplin” and I said, “You’re not going to believe where I’ve been all week…” And 2 days later I got the part and she gave me the picture.

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AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’: Frank Darabont & Greg Nicotero talk zombies!

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There’s a great new show about to come to air AMC called The Walking Dead.

It follows a group of survivors after a zombie apocalypse who are in search of a safe and secure home.

The show is  based on the comic of the same name and it’s got some powerhouse talent behind it; namely Frank Darabont, Gale Anne Hurd and make-up & effects wizard Greg Nicotero.

I talked with Frank and Greg at Comic-Con (in a round-table interview) about the show, the actors and all things Zombie!

For the full interview, click onto the audio link above or download from iTunes.

As the interview starts, Frank and Greg look at all the recorders in front of them…

Frank Darabont:  They’re closing in like Zombies, these things.

[LAUGHTER]

Greg Nicotero:  If they start moving closer and closer, I’m gone.

Frank:  Yeah, I’m the first out the door.

We’re going to pick your brains,  not eat them.

Greg:  Our zombies don’t eat brains. That’s a fallacy.

Frank:  That’s a big myth from Return of the Living Dead. Dan O’Bannon and those folks have completely skewed the perception of what a zombie actually is and does.

Greg:  And the irony was as a shoot gift AMC handed hats to the whole crew and it said, “I Heart Brains” on it. [LAUGHTER]  I looked at it and Frank and I went, “Wrong show!” [LAUGHTER] It was really nice but I’m not wearing that hat.

Frank:  Wrong zombies. [LAUGHTER] I love Return of the Living Dead though.  It was fun.

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Lake Bell and Erinn Hayes on Childrens Hospital, moving a web-series to TV and cursing in front of kids!

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With all the craziness that happens on Adult Swim‘s Childrens Hospital, it was good to talk to the more normal people in the cast, Lake Bell and Erinn Hayes.

Ok, they were as nutty as their cast members and I loved it!

Lake plays ‘Dr. Cat Black’ and Erinn is ‘Dr. Lola Spratt’ and they’re both terrifically funny in the show.

Lake is also currently starring in HBO’s How To Make It In America and Erinn was in the short-lived series, Worst Week.

This was a round-table interview at Comic-Con and here we talk about working with the actual children of Childrens Hospital, moving a web-series to TV and more!

For the full interview, click onto the audio link above or download from iTunes.

With all of the debauchery that goes on on set and the kids are, of course, background and there’s lot of adult humor happening, I’m sure.

Erinn:  I feel like I have made at least 50 children’s ears bleed–not even for the scripted stuff–it’s just really the hanging out on set together…if you look, there’s really not even an extra. There’s like…four children in the whole first season.  In the second season, we actually had a little bit of money, Adult Swim was very nice, and we got a little bit of a budget, and, uh, there were some children extras and we’d just be fuckin’ around in between…

Lake:  Don’t say that word! You can’t use that word in front of kids.

Erinn: …in between scenes and then we would look and go, “Oh my God you guys there are kids! There are kids right over there…”

Lake:  But there’s something about children who are on the Childrens Hospital set, where I feel, like, it’s OK. Their parents have subjected them to this…so… I’m like, “Ah, fuck it, have a cigarette…” Anyway…whatever, so…

Erinn: [LAUGHTER] Yeah, make yourself feel better…

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